At least 17 people, including the pilot, DV Sathe, died when an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai to Kozhikode with 191 onboard crashed after overshooting the runway at Karipur Airport on Friday.
The Air India Express flight from Dubai was repatriating Indians stranded overseas amid the coronavirus pandemic. The plane was carrying 190 passengers and crew, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Friday. Among them were 10 infants.
The pilot of the flight was a former Air Force Pilot who also flew Airbus 310 for Air India before moving to Air India Express flying the Boeing 737. Captain Sathe has won ‘Sword of Honour’ at AFA, was accomplished fighter pilot, and was HAL test pilot too.
The flight, skidded off the runway at Kerala’s Kozhikode airport and fell into a 35-feet valley before splitting into two pieces late Friday evening. The incident took place at around 7.40 pm amid heavy rainfall in the area.
The flight, number IX-1344, overshot the runway in rainy conditions, “went down 35-feet into a slope before breaking up into two pieces,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told CNN.
The Consulate General of India, Dubai posted helpline numbers – 056 546 3903, 0543090572, 0543090572, 0543090575: Consulate General of India, Dubai.
Pm Narendra Modi tweeted,
The rescue operation at the crash site has now been completed and survivors have been taken to hospitals in Calicut and Malappuram, according to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan .
